Page 25 of Stand: Part One

Darren shrugged as he considered it. “Sure. I’ve never seen it.”

I dropped my fork, instantly appalled.

“You’ve never seen The Matrix?” I nearly growled. “It’s like, my favorite trilogy.”

He chuckled slightly under his breath. “Well, I guess that settles it then.”

A sense of eagerness overcame me at the thought of his reaction to the films. They were action movies, after all, so he should be able to find something to like about them. At least I hoped.

Aack. Why the fuck did I care if he liked them or not? Fuck him. I should have chosen Star Wars.

Darren was surprisingly silent throughout the movie, but I could tell he was making a professional assessment, especially regarding the fight scenes and weaponry.

“Well, I can see why you’d like it,” he commented as the credits began to roll.

“Did you like it?” I asked as I pulled my head from his shoulder that I had been leaning on for his benefit.

He shrugged. “It was decent. The fight scenes are way too choreographed to be realistic, but I can appreciate the skill that went into them.”

I nodded in agreement. “I think they’re meant to be more entertaining than realistic.”

“Probably, but the number of mistakes made during production were getting a little annoying.”

I frowned at him. “What mistakes?”

He smirked. “In one scene, Trinity is holding a Beretta 92F to an agent’s head, and then it suddenly switches to a Beretta 84F when she pulls the trigger.”

I rolled my eyes. “You would notice that.”

“Also, the bomb they dropped in the elevator had mercury switches, which is a poor choice since the mercury could touch the contacts during the fall and cause a premature explosion.”

I glared at him. “You know this movie came out in 1999, right?”

He shrugged. “The premise itself is a little faulty too. Whatever energy the machines could extract from humans would likely equal the same amount of energy needed just to keep them alive. Not a very good power source.”

I scowled at him. “I think the machines had very limited options. Are you done shitting all over one of my favorite movies?” I growled.

“Alright, alright, I’ll stop.” Darren chuckled, raising his palms in surrender.

“Thank you,” I said with a glare.

“But Tank also gave Trinity instructions for the wrong helicopter. It was a B-212, yet the program he downloaded was for a B-260 shown on his computer.”

I grabbed one of the smaller throw pillows and chucked it at his stupid head.

10

Revelation

The soft sound of steady, rhythmic breathing cascaded across my skin, flowing gently into my ears like a delicate sonata. It pained me to admit that such a sweet sound could calm my undying rage. A remedy to swiftly lull me into a sense of tranquility unmatched by any others. But it was only due to the source of that sound.

Warmth filled my chest as I stared down through the bars of the metal cage that contained my most precious possession. The pale skin of her naked body contrasted so beautifully with the purple bruises marking her, the aftereffect of my brutal touch.

Her chest slowly rose and fell, drawing my eyes to her hardened nipples that had peeked out from behind her slender arms. She’d been clutching her chest all night to keep herself warm, but eventually, she learned to sleep through the shivers I purposely plagued her with. My beautiful, adaptable little soldier.

Glossy strands of red hair had fallen over her angelic face, only poorly shielding her from my gaze. I suddenly had an urge to run my fingers through it, relishing the softness before wrapping it tightly around my fist like a leash.

And she’d love me for it. Because that was who she was now. My toy. My doll. My little puppet. Just waiting for me to play with her.